Jameson was a student of John Walker [1743-1804] at the University of Edinburgh. In 1800, he studied mineralogy and geology at the Freiberg Bergakademie under A.G. Werner. In 1804, upon the death of Walker, he succeeded to the Regius Chair of Natural History, at the University of Edinburgh, a position he held until his own death. In 1808, he help found the Wernerian Natural History Society, and cofounded in 1819 with David Brewster [1781-1868], The Edinburgh Philosophical Journal. Jameson is today remembered as the greatest exponent of Werner's geological theories in Britain; however, later in life, he accepted Hutton's views. In 1826, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. The mineral "Jamesonite" was named for him by W. Haidinger in 1825.

Rare. Robert Jameson, who was decended from a Shetland family, was interested in natural history from childhood. When he became a student at Edinburgh University, he attended lectures on the subject given by John Walker [1731-1803], and was introduced to geology. Soon Jameson was his teacher's favorite student and was given charge of the university's museum and taken on field excursions. In 1794, at the age of 20, he decided to make the study of geology his life's work. Consequently, he spent his summers studying geology and natural history in the Shetland Islands, and in 1797, he arranged an extended visited to the Island of Arran. His observations on the nature of these two locations was published as his Outline of the Mineralogy of the Shetland Islands and the Island of Arran, the first modern geological examination of the region.

Scarce. In 1798, Jameson spent the summer exploring the Hebrides and the Western Islands, and in 1799 he investigated the Orkneys and revisited Arran. As a result of these journeys he published the much expanded Mineralogy of the Scottish Isles, which incorporated much of the material from his former Outline of the Mineralogy of the Shetland Islands and the Island of Arran (London, 1798).

3. English, 1813 [Reissue].
Mineralogical Travels | through the | Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland Islands, | and | Mainland of Scotland, | with Disserations upon Peat and Kelp. | In Two Volumes, | Illustrated with Maps and Plates. | [double rule] | By Robert Jameson, | Regius Professor of Natural History and Keeper of the Museum, and Lecturer on | Mineralogy in the University of Edinburgh, President of the Wernerian | Society, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and of the | Linnean Society of London, Honorary Member of the Royal | Irish Academy, of the Honourable Dublin Society, of the | Geological Society of London, of the Physical | and Mineralogical Societies of Jena, &c. | [double rule] | Volume I. | Edinburgh: | Printed for Archibald Constable and Co. Edinburgh; and | White, Cochrane and Co., Fleet Street, London. | [rule] | 1813.

Scarce. This is a reissue of the author's Mineralogy of the Scottish Isles (Edinburgh, 1800). A new title page designed to better describe the volumes contents replaces the previous one, but the text is still in the sheets of the 1800 printing. The large folding map shows Scotland and the plates and illustrations depict geological features.

Very scarce. In the preface to this work, Jameson reviews the classifications of Cronstedt and Wallerius and introduces Werener's classification which he then adopts for the work. The first two volumes are a descriptive mineralogy, based upon Wernerian doctrines. The third volume, published in 1808, is subtitled "Elements of Geognosy" and comprised the first detailed explanation in English of Werner's geological theories and his classification of the rock strata.

Very scarce. Enlarged and corrected edition. The present work represents the sum of mineralogical knowledge extant in the early years of the 19th century. The first volume opens with a list of works consulted and is followed by a systematic description of species, according to classes, which continues into the second volume. Here it is followed by a series of appendices of additional species, additional British localities, and a tabular view of other systems of mineralogy, beginning with Linné 1736 and including all the important classification schemes to Jameson's day. The third volume is devoted to metallic minerals and closes with indices to all volumes in English, German, and French. The plates show various crystal forms.

Very scarce. The text of Jameson is preceeded by Werner's "Tabular View of the Generic External Characters of Minerals," published separately in 1804. The publication year of the work is taken from the advertisement.

Very scarce. Gives external features of minerals, color, external optical effects, crystallography after Haüy, physical properties, chemistry, blowpiping, and more. The plates show crystal forms, some of Haüy's built-up models after his "molecule integrant," and various goniometers.

Very scarce. No more published. The first and only portion published of a proposed mineralogical description of Scotland, which the half title reflects, "A Mineralogical Description of Scotland. Vol. 1, part 1. County of Dumfries." It was not until Heddle published his masterwork on the mineralogy of Scotland that a comprehensive handbook existed to this area. Provides a Wernerian view in geological descriptions.

Scarce. This Manual contains an account of simple minerals and mountain rocks. Jameson has extracted descriptions of the most common minerals and abstracted the information from the fuller treatment he provides in his three volume System of Mineralogy (London, 1820) to create the more concise treatment given in this work. The rocks are arranged according to their geological relations, and the descriptions and history are given in such a manner that the student will be able to determine the nature of the veins and strata of a country. The introduction begins with a sketch of Mohs classification system, and the basic characters used to distinguish between species. The text then presents a descriptive mineralogy arranged in the Classes and Orders of Mohs classificatory system. Also contained is a long section on the description and arrangement of mountain rocks. It is based on Mohs' classification system which first appeared in 1820.

13. English, 1837.
Mineralogy | according to the | Natural History System, | forming the Article under that head in the | seventh edition of the | Encyclopędia Britannica. | By Robert Jameson, F.R.SS.L. & E., M.W.S. | Regius Professor of Natural History, and Lecturer on | Mineralogy in the University of Edinburgh, | &c. &c. &c. | Edinburgh: | Adam and Charles Black, North Bridge, | Booksellers to his Majesty for Scotland. | [rule] | MDCCCXXXVII.

Scarce. The text was originally printed in the supplement volume to the Encyclopaedia Britannica; however, it was printed in this separate form to make it more readily available for the use of the students of mineralogy. Although written for the beginner, it could also be consulted by more advanced mineralogists. Jameson bases his classification upon the system proposed by Friedrich Mohs, which was the reigning natural history method.

In the Characters of Minerals, all the typical physical properties such as cleavage, hardness, specific gravity, color, lustre, fracture, transparency, crystallization, etc. Jameson then presents his system of arrangement, and his method for determing the mode of a mineral, so that it could be placed correctly in the system. More than half of the volume is then given over to presenting a descriptive mineralogy arranged in the system.